Improvement in grain-drills



EEIcE.

DANIEL EENTGHLEE, on BELLEVILLE, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-DRILLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.' 1l3,564, dated April 1l, 1871.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL RENTCELER, of Belleville, in the county of St. Clair and State of Illinois, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Drills, and I do hereby declare the following to bea full and true description thereof, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

. attaching the drag-bars and flukes and operating the same; fourthly, to the construction of the seed-funnels and their attachment and operation to cause them to follow the movements of the fiukes, as may be desirable; iifthly, to the manner of operating the grainfeeding devices; and, lastly, to certain details of construction, all of which will hereinafter more fully appear.

To enable those skilled in these arts to make and use my said improvements, I will now more fully describe the same, referring tO- Figure l as a general side view; to Fig. 2 as 'a plan of the said grain-drill in its usual form 5 to Figas an elevation of the devices for operatin g the drag-bars and ukes; to Fig. 4 as a sectional View of the axle attachment to the main frame and the devices for operating the fuunels; and to the several figures on Sheet A No. 2 as detail views, hereafter more particularly described.

I construct the frame A of my said drill usually of wood, resting upon the axle B by Wheels B.

The axle B is firmly secured by the bearingblocks b to side timbers of said frame A, thus making the axle a part' of said frame. The

wheels B turn about the axle, and are guided thereon in the usual manner.

The ton gue() is connected with the front of the frame A by a saddle-casting, a, and proper bolts, Aand rests by a castbearing, c, on the axle. The hook-bolt c' then secures all parts firmly, as more fully indicated in Fig. 4.

The double-tree D is pivoted at the bolt or hammer d, and the hammer-strap 1)' passes down under a projecting lip of the saddle a, as shown in Fig. l, and in detail sectional elevation at Fig. 5. A pin, a', of the saddle a holds the hammenstrap.

Upon the sides of theframe A, Isecure the feed-hopper E. The ends thereof are usually cast-iron plates, having feet secured by bolts to the frame A. The side of said hopper I form of `sheet-metal (usually iron or E zinc) plates E', rolled or pressed into corrugated or waved form, as clearly shown in the detail sectional view, Fig. 8.

To give the plates E proper stiffness, a bead will usually be run on the top edge thereof, while the end will be secured properly to the endplates of the hopper. Said hopper has a bottom, (usually of wood,) through which the seed-distributing devices operate.

It is plain that by using metallic sides as well as ends in said hopper, the shrinkage and swelling, and consequent distortion, which render wooden-sided hoppers objectionable, are avoided, while the hopper itself is made lighter and stronger, and, thus adds to `the rigidity of the drill-frame.

Under the hopper are arranged the flukes F, suspended by chains, in the usual manner, from the lift-bar Gr.V Said bar is pivoted to the frame A at g, and, when raisedup by a proper lever, draws the linkes out of ground to the position shown in Fig. 1. The linkes attach, in the usual manner, to drag-bars H. These, at their forward ends, are forked, and are hooked upon the hooks or half-staples h.

The arrangement of the forks of the dragbars is such that the operator is compelled to compress Vthe same to enter the eyes of the forks upon the hooks, and the spring of the fork then secures the drag-bar in its position, as indicated in Fig. 2.

I prefer to construct the hooks h of malleable iron, in the form indicated in detail, Figs.

11, 12, and 13.

The eye of the drag-bar attaches to the prong h1, and the stem h2 is curved, as shown in Fig. l1, to bring the line of draft in the axis of the base 71.3. This base is driven into a wooden bar, as hereafter explained. A proper hole having first been made, the base, by its corners, takes hold upon the woody fiber, to prevent the staple or hook from turning as well as withdrawing. The grooves h4 allow the wood cut or compressed by the corners to enter, thus preventing splitting of the bar when the hook is driven in.

The drag-bar staples may connect direct-ly to a front bar of the drillframe; but in order to operate the flukes from a right to a zigzag line, as may be desirable, in accordance with Y the nature of the ground, I Vhave arranged them in the manner following:

The hooks b are driven, in a diagonal direction, into a bar, I, as shown in Figs. l and 2. Said bar is pivoted, by hinges z', to the brackets t', secured to the frame. Connected to the hinge t' is the gear-wheel 7s, operated by the rack K, which passes along the side of the frame A, and is thereon guided, and connects with the link k1 and lever k2. Said lever is pivoted at 7c3, and, wh en operated by the band, assumes the positions shown in full and dotted lines in Fig. 3. A stop, 7a4, limits the stroke at one end, and the lever, dropping to a nearly horizontal position, thus bringing the draft in the line of the pivot 7c3, limits it in the other direction.

The bar Iis pivoted in such position that at either end of its rocking movement the direction of the draft of both sets of drag-bars shall be in the line of the axis of rotation of the bar, thus avoiding the tendencies to shifting, and consequent strains, which would take place by the draft of the linkes upon the rockbar in other positions thereof. y

In order to pass the seed to the flukes F, whatever be their position, I arrange the seedfunnels L. r)Jhese are usually sheetiron or zinc tubes, wide at top and tapered to a knee, l, where the lower tube, L, joins the upper one by pivot-rivets Z', as seen in Figs. 3 and 8.

The shape of the tubes L L is determined l' by their positions with regard to the feedingpistons, as shown in Fig. 8, as well as by the lnterior size of the linkes, it being necessary that the tube L and part of the tube L should pass into the fluke, when, by breakage of the wooden pin usually holding' the fluke forward,

c the fluke cants back.

The ground end of the tube L' is cut iny clined, so that soil cannot be held therein to choke the tube, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The funnel L is hinged to a crank-bar, M,-

by a spring-clamp, m, while in the rear it is suspended by a strap, m', to the hopper E.

In order that said funnels L L shall follow the lukes in their movement from a right to a zigzag line, (and always hold the proper positions for entering the flukes without crampframe A, and is turned lby the wheel n, connecting with the rack 765 of the bar K, before described as operating the tlukes.

To cause the grain to pass to the funnels, as is desired, I use the feed-pistons O, operated by a crank-shaft, P, which is arranged in bearings at the top of the hopper E.

To operate said shaft, I connect therewith a gear-wheel, p, which is in engagement with the intermediate wheel, p1, and this again connects with the gear-wheel rim p2, secured to the wheel B. The intermediate wheel, p1, is secured by a sleeve-bolt in the end of the hopper E, and by its arrangement permits the use of a small wheel-rim, p2, thus bringing the teeth nearer the axle and away from the greatest side vibrations.

It is of importance to cease the `feed-motion as the flukes are raised out of the ground; and to accomplish this I arrange on the casting which connects the liftbar Gr with its pivot g the cam-groove g', into which a shifting-lever, Q, engages by a tappet or linger.

As the lift-bar is raised the cam g causes the lever Q to move laterally, (on its pivot (1,) and thus moves the wheel p toward the hopper end, and relieves the pin m on the shaft P from its engagement on the ridges x' of the gear-wheel p. These ridges are plainly indicated in the detail elevation and section of Figs. 6 and 7, respectively.

As the ridges w are very near to each other, and are rounded to cause the pin to enter between them readily, the readjustment for the continuance of the feed-motion is quickly made when the liftbar Gr drops the'ukes.

The detail construction of the feed-pistons is indicated in Fig. 9 in sectional elevation and in Fig. l0 in section. The pitman R connects the piston with the crankshaft.

To avoid lateral play of the pitman, I have given the collar of the same a'wide bearing', r, on the shaft; and to permit the separate pitmen to slide endwise to their places on the curved crank-shaft, as in Fig. 2 indicated. I out recesses r in the bearingcollars r, to reduce the width of bearing on the sides of the collars.

The pitman is guided by its connection with the piston O and the lmovement thereof vertically in the cup S, and the further lguide achieved by the collars, as aforesaid, then sufices to prevent end-play on the crank-shaft. The piston O consists of a body-piece, O1, and a slide, O2. The latter, by its movement up or down on the center lflange, o, forms a lesser or greater seed-opening in the manner usual in the piston-feed. The movement of the slide O2 is regulated by a screw, o1, and nuts 02.

I do not claim any of the parts thus described, as they are well known 5 but I lay claim to the peculiar construction of the slide O2 in such wise that its weight shall be reduced to a minimum, and the labor of fitting it upon the lian ge o shall be decreased. This I accomplish by coring said slide with a cavity, 03, and giving a small bearing at o4 against the flange o. Said cavity o3 allows chaff and dust to pass in Without cramping the moving of the slide 02, and the sides 04 of the body Ol being (below the ilange o) arranged to give the slide O2 a sufficient clearing, the dust and cha may escape at these clearanceopenings.

To avoid corrosion of the screw o1 and nuts o2, and rusting in, I make the sereT 01 of composition metal or brass, the nut being usually malleable or Wrought iron; or the metal composition ofthe parts aforesaid maybe reversed.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim is y l. The rock-bar I, hinged to the hangers fi, and provided with hooks h and toothed Wheel k, in combination with the drag-bars H, flukes F, and sliding toothed bar K, all constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The arrangement of the funnels L L', crank-shaft M, clamps m, pinion n, and sliding rack-bar K, and the rock-bar I, pinion k, drag-bars E, and lukes F, all constructed and operating substantially as and for the Vpurpose set forth.

3. The cam g', lever Q, and sliding pinionclutch p on the crank-shaft P, combined with the lift-bar G, hinged at g, the ukes F, and the chains by which they are suspended,where by the feeding mechanism is thrown out of gear simultaneously With and by the raising of the ukes from the ground, all operating substantially as herein described. 1

4. The pitmen R, having a bearing, 7*,011 the shaft l), when the bearing is provided with recesses r', substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The slide O2, when made with a cavity o3, -and bearings 04, and combined with the ange o, substantially as herein shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony of said invention I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of Witnesses.

GEORGE P. HERTHEL, Jr., WILLIAM W. HER'rHEL. 

